MIND GIRL - Haiku

I knew a young girl
In the Land of Memory.
Lost in precious time,
             ~
And the swirls of mist.
Mountains of Experience,
Ranges have been built.
            ~
I sleep in valleys.
I exult with the sunrise
From the tops of Peaks.
            ~
High above the Land,
Stretched out behind me, so far,
Love fades into Time.
            ~
The young girl stands there,
Not quite obscured by the fog.
Forever Lovely.

The Comforting Fae (Think 'Hospital Nurses')

In the night,
when spirits come,
to make me jump
and make me run,
there are only 
but a few
that bring me rest
and healing charm.
Though fairy dust
gets strewn around,
some do so 
with a whisper sound.
And feeling as if
I'd just been kissed,
they send me back
into the mist.

Performance Link. Click on picture

January 31, 2013

Walk A Road

…rest. Render red the robust root. Rippy tippy type.
Nosh and nibble, the night is nigh.
Steep the steps lead down to sleep.
Slumber slips in on silky feet,
So subtle soft in day’s retreat,
Sneaks up and snares the hapless heap.

So dreams, they come, as a flowing stream,
And over the ‘scape they run and gleam,
Too fast, almost, to be even seen.

The pillow, I think, it knows my name.
It calls me. Is it near or far?
It’s kept me safe and free from pain,
And never too far from where you are.
Never too far……never too far.

The sun, like slumber, knows how to sneak,
As around the corner it begins to peek.
And through my eyelids my sleep it rends.
The covers, whom I’ve come to know,
Keep me warm though there be snow.
Then envelop me so close, as friends.
The Darkness is so inky black.
It has driven off the sun’s attack.

And sleep, again, allows a dream,
More vivid than the deepest depths.
A knife’s edge, never quite as keen,
Or sharp as a vivid dream can get.

The electronic bells they draw me back.
No homecoming ever quite as sad.
And dreams, not gone a moments age,
No sweetness could they ever lack.

A Day! A breath will I ever take!
A song chimes on the radio.
A piece of toast I will then break
And walk a road, so far to go.
And walk a road…….and walk a road.
Then…… (back to beginning)

THE WREATH

Birth! Only the beginning of a long prelude to death.
Life is just the time before the skimming of the cream,
The flower on the Wreath.
Everything you do is finally ended in the start
Of the rest of your existence
In which your body plays no part.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is no room for resistance
To this far, far greater force.
You should not fear its coming
For it is the only course.
Its beauty never ending,
Its peace a moving Cart
Of the rest of your existence
In which your body plays no part.

DESIRE AND REALITY

I hear your voice,
Soft, sweet, coming from far away.
I hear it clearly
As though you are sitting near me.
Distance is meaningless
In the hearing of it.
Distance is everything
When it comes to touching
My lips to yours.
How soft is a touch
When it is mere words
On a page?
How sweet is a kiss
That happens in my mind?
So sweet, indeed,
I can almost taste it
On my tongue.
The ache, too real,
My lips not as fooled.
My arms, too empty,
Reach out.
The air I find,
Too cold.

-Steven Willy Rachlin 1/11/10

The Illusion of the Morning Sky

We look up at the morning sky and it is like a ceiling. It contains us. It feels like Mother Earth is holding us close to her breast. We feel comfortable and safe. Our ancestors were uncertain as to what was on the other side of the sky. At night they saw all kinds of things and struggled to explain it such that it fit with what they saw. Could they ever imagine the truth?

It was easier to imagine some kind of heaven above that “majestical roof”, as Shakespeare called it. “That brave o’re hanging firmament.” “Laden with Golden Fire”. I couldn’t have said it better myself. What is above that ceiling? The Attic? That was the stage upon which the less enlightened ancestors saw it all unfold before them on. I don’t blame them for getting it wrong. They didn’t have the tools, or perhaps the imagination, to find the truth back then. Add to that the politics of religion. To control the unruly masses something very much bigger than themselves had to be held over them. We were one church service away from being barbarians, from the religious leaders point of view. I’m not sure we weren’t. Wouldn’t it be convenient if there was an all powerful mysterious being that controlled our existence after we left this plain of existence? Heaven was his domain. We can’t know his plan. He is the Creator. How did he do it all? Well, let’s make him all powerful. That explains away just about all the loose ends, of which, at the time, there were many.

Not all the loose ends have been more reasonably filled in since then. However, most of the important ones have. I am amazed that I get to live right at this time of profound discovery and enlightenment. Now we are down to just a few big questions. The very very beginning is still a little sketchy, to say the least. What IS at the bottom of a black hole? Is there a bottom, or “the other side”? If we knew that, what else would we then know? What does this new perspective mean to beliefs that are up to 6000 years old? We better figure it out!

Before anybody is allowed to have inviolate beliefs some reality had better be included. Certainly the church has learned its lesson by now! Can we, in good conscience, allow ourselves to be in denial over simple facts? You can have Faith, but wouldn’t your faith be that much stronger if it were actually based in truth? It is hard for me to imagine an argument against this. Is denial some kind of badge of honor to prove your faith? God is not the Wizard of Oz. We are allowed to look behind the curtain, when whoever is back there is not a charlatan. There are many reasons to hide behind a curtain, but very few of them are good reasons. Eventually we grow up enough to be able to handle taking a peek. We develop the means to look. We understand what the curtain is and what it is for. Our sky protects us from the harsh radiation of space, but we have managed to go to the other side of it. There is at least one more curtain we have to get to the other side of.

How Much Of You Is Mine?

by Steven Willy Rachlin 1/29/73

I am scared because I am alone.
Scared because I found you and you are the way I am.
I am scared I might still be alone.
Frightened by the darkness,
And the way that I first found you.
What does it all mean,
And how much of you is mine?
~~~~
I don't know why I need you.
It's not just our first meeting.
I needed you before that.
I never thought that it would happen.
You brought things I didn't ask for.
But now that i have taken,
I wonder if I 've lost.
~~~~
So now I sit not sure of
The future and its coming.
The Questions wait unanswered.
The road to you is calling.
I scream, but there is silence.
Not even echoes answer.
A sign says that I'm lonely.
It flashes on and off.
~~~~
The darkest night, the deepest river
Couldn't keep me if you called me.
I need someone to lean on me.
I want someone to help me.
~~~~
The pieces of the puzzle
Fall together when assembled
And they paint a pretty picture,
But the picture makes no sense.
~~~~
When you're lonely
Send your mind out
And mine will meet it softly.
We'll be driven into comfort,
I'll drag you down into silk shadows.
For I will never touch you,
It's our minds that will embrace.
If I never feel your lips again
At least I'll feel your thoughts
And see your face.
Touching can be beautiful,
But what we could have is better.
~~~~
So I'm scared and I am lonely
And unsure of what is coming
But I'm hopeful for the future
So I'll take what you will give me.
~~~~
As I stare into the starlight
And sip slowly at my wine,
There is darkness, there's confusion,
There is beauty and some rythmn,
And I ask myself this question:
How much of you, is mine?

The Universal Dream

The universal dream: Freedom sprinkled liberally with peace. More than just survival certainly. Where we are now, in relation to where we are going, I think the Universal Dream is to evolve, to arrive at that point in the far future where a real freedom is possible. This is a task for all of humanity. Each one of us is responsible for moving this idea forward. Darwin called it Survival of the Fittest, but what is it really called once you get past savagery, brutality and politics. At some point "the fittest" should mean both the physically AND mentally FITTEST. When the threat of us destroying ourselves no longer exists, that is the Universal Dream.

Is Religion Good or Bad?

Very early in human history humans were extraordinarily ignorant. We have been gaining knowledge, exponentially as of late, and yet religion, as it has been practiced for the last 2000 to 6000 years, has stagnated horribly into a political tool. (not that it mostly was ever anything else) IF ANY religion showed the slightest hint at taking new knowledge into the belief system it would not only get my attention, but might blow me away. The unwritten law of TRADITION that seems to pervade most religions is employed as an inherent system of control and the stifling of reality. Very very sad indeed. Old knowledge is one thing. Old myth is another thing entirely. All religions that are of the Sons of Abraham, at this point in human history, are deeply and inherently flawed. Just as a human needs to grow, I would expect that the belief in God should be the VERY FIRST THING to grow, to evolve, to expand and to develop as our intelligence, knowledge and understanding of Creation grows. That has, simply put, NOT BEEN THE CASE!! So far, there is enough we don't know, that does not preclude the possible existence of God. Maybe he does, Maybe he doesn't. We don't know. However, 13.7 billion years later, and a million million miracles later, here we are; humans, who think, and can conceive and wonder. Whatever you believe you have to acknowledge the spirituality and wonderment of such a thing. I can believe that a God might exist, in that context. As there is no "proof" that he does exist, it leaves a lot of room for doubt, however, there is no proof he doesn't exist either. The existence of the universe, and US in it, gives one pause though. Humans seem to need Religion. Humans seem to need politics. I wish we could keep them completely separate. That does not seem to happen in actual practice. Too bad. So to answer the original question: Religion, as it is currently practiced as a whole IS BAD!!! Do we need it? Collectively, yes. I just wish there was a religion in existence worth our following. If you don't believe in God, that does not get you off the hook, by the way. Look around. The Universe is BIG and demands attention. It is real. Believe in THAT!!!! Worship our very existence in it. Worship the fact you are alive and part of a sociological phenomenon. There is NOTHING to question in that. There is no other proof needed for that. THAT is reality. THAT is worthy. Maybe religion will step up.

Sublety Is Certainly Not Without Influence

I have survived several things in my life that could have killed me. I was given yet another chance at life when I got my kidney/pancreas transplant. I have taken these things as an indication that there is something I should, or at least CAN contribute to the world to make it more Enlightened. I feel that I can put ripples in the pond of the Universe and my influence will be felt either directly or indirectly by many people. In any event subtlety is certainly not without influence. On my homepage I have placed a saying I came up with several years ago in a sort of revelation. AS LIGHT CAN BEND A TREE, SO ENLIGHTENMENT CAN BEND THE WORLD!!! We each seek sustenance from the energies that are out there in the Universe. How we grow and in what direction we grow depends on what is out there to cause us to grow (or bend) in any particular way. If one person puts out good vibes, that's a start. If that person can convince others to do the same thing at the same time, well that is more powerful. The truth of Enlightenment is bright indeed. If we light it up we will bend the world.

Across The Atlantic

How far a heart stretches

When a net of love catches

The beat of it pounds in my chest.

Across a vast ocean

I still feel the emotion

A feeling I really like best.

Are you feeling alone

So far from your home,

Well, know that I am on a quest.

To bring you to me

Across the big sea

So that right by my side, you may rest.

So come to my arms

I'll keep you from harm

And press you, so close, to my breast.

For soon you will know

It's not far to go.

Regardless of how far, I'm blessed

Raison d'etre

There is a link to my first post in the Archive listing on the left side of the page. This is the essay that launched my blog. I suggest reading it, if not first, at least eventually.

Live Your Life!

This is almost classic “Do as I say, Not as I do”. I charge each of you to live life. Choose Life. Engage yourself in living every day. The earlier in life you get in the habit of doing this the easier it will be to continue doing it. Don’t take it for granted. It requires active participation.


Regardless of how long or short life is I am pretty sure I have more behind me than I have in front of me. It should make the life in front of me that much more precious. I am trying to live it like it IS more precious. I am not as willing to wait for something to work out. I may not have the time patience implies, or laziness requires, or breaking bad habits takes. Who knows, tomorrow they may figure out how to make it last forever. In the meantime you have to assume you are going to die tomorrow, but will live forever. Makes scheduling a bitch. Any given day, if I get to see a pretty girl, I consider that gravy.

Get Some Perspective

The world is not the utopia we wish it would be. Indeed, right now, the world, taken as a whole, is a very nasty place. Politically, socially, economically, and in health issues there are bright spots; seeds from which, what we strive for, can grow. But, we cannot pretend that the bright spots are in a majority. We cannot pretend to enjoy the easy choices that go along with a more perfect world. To get from where we are, to where we want to be, where there are only easy choices, there is a journey we are going to have to take first. This journey will not succeed if we try to put the prize before the travail. It will not succeed if we believe everyone will only play by the rules. This journey is down a tough road and we must have the courage to face the obstacles and do what must be done to prevail.

We think of freedom as something that we have relative to our government, but in actuality, freedom can only be had when any political or socio-economic machine does not crush us under its oppression, when no group’s hate deprives any of us of our happiness. When no hate exists; when we have abolished it and have brought the world together as a single community; when we join a bigger perspective and become The Residents of Planet Earth, then we will be free..

So ARE we moving towards a utopia where everyone is enlightened and loving of our diverse neighbors, or are we actually becoming more callused? The world is getting smaller, and it seems that smaller is not better. The world does not awe us as much as it used to. What made using a nuclear device against people so abhorrent? We saw how devastating it was. We saw that doing such a monumentally destructive thing made us, as a civilized people, uncomfortable. And we realized that it would end in us destroying ourselves. Now we fear terrorists or terrorist nations might use them, or bio-weapons, with impunity. Much worse than that, they do it in the name of God. Heaven is supposed to be a reward. I don’t know about God, but if it were my Creation and you destroyed it, including my crowning achievement: mankind, I’d be pissed!

Rainy Sunday Afternoon

Small World, Large Universe

Isn't the Internet an interesting thing? The world just keeps getting smaller and smaller. Most people do not realize that the dynamics of how things have worked for the last 10,000 years with humans is going to HAVE to be altered to take into consideration this basic fact. Our perception of the universe and therefore our perception of anything bigger than ourselves, like religion, the meaning of faith, who can be our friend, who is a member of our tribe, all the things where scale is involved, are being forced to change. The Earth is getting smaller and the Universe is getting bigger. Having information at our fingertips, on any subject, as soon as it is discovered, is such a paradigm change that concessions to this alteration must be made.

Fundamental beliefs, that have weathered the test of time up till now, are going to be affected. Some think this means their beliefs will be eroded, but in actuality it should mean that they are growing, dare I say, evolving. Sticking to traditional interpretations, in light of new or expanded information, is nothing but stubborn ignorance, forced ignorance of the most heinous kind. Falsely linking an old way of thinking to a strict adherence to a belief system and then essentially making it a crime of some sort to think any other way is a crime against humanity, knowledge and truth. Religions seem to take the hard line of adherence to belief the most seriously. It seems to me that they are simply afraid that if it is taken any other way it will undermine the entire religion. Knowledge will blow them clean out of the water, and God forbid, we can’t allow that, can we? Better we believe, for example, that we are being fooled by incorrect scientific interpretation of the facts then not believe the world is as old as the Creationists say it is. To deny the literal word of the Bible, somehow, lessens the entirety of all of creation according to their interpretation. I have to say it appears to me they protest too much. Faith should not require the abject denial of truth to make it work. We supposedly figured out that the Earth was not the center of the solar system, the Universe, or anything physical for that matter, a long time ago. It may be the center of, what seems to be, a rather limited view of the Creation. When it comes to the Universe I have to believe that size is everything, size in all four standard dimensions. You look at it and you know, in your heart, soul, and mind that if God is responsible for all this then we have little chance of figuring out God in His greater context. If a God is not responsible we are simply just really very small. For the Creationists to bring it all down to human size makes them nothing less than non-believers of the Real God, deniers of the Universe, Heretics. The complete and total arrogance of their selective truths speaks to their underlying lack of faith in their faith. When what you believe is sorely contradicted by facts, or at least by what you can see with your own eyes, it may be time to make a slight alteration to your faith. When you build castles in the air, the castle is only as strong as its foundation. People talk about faith like it has to be non-changeable in any way. That to do so means you made a mistake and when it comes to God no mistakes are allowed. Well, guess what, we are human. Mistakes are part of our repertoire. Believe that if we alter our beliefs in the direction of truth, God will smile. We need to grow and learn and strive to understand. What needs to change most is your definition of Faith. I have said before that if God wanted it to be easy on us he would have made the Universe fluffy. If he really didn’t want us to figure it all out he could have created us too stupid to comprehend it. At least he could have put that apple tree somewhere we couldn’t reach it. Makes you wonder if God is crazy or crazy like a fox.

Faith and science cannot disagree. Many want to say that they are separate somehow and do not need to agree. I say, “If your Faith can’t hold up to science, your Faith needs to be tweaked”. We have recently heard the term Inconvenient Truth. Truth sometimes requires interpretation. I prefer to say Inconvenient Facts. If we actually have the Facts, the truth cannot be far behind. Faith, by definition, does not require any backing. This is a very bad weak point for faith. Anybody can shove in anything to the basic faith structure and try and pass it off by saying we must take it on faith! A similar semantic game was played on us concerning patriotism. None of us believes that anything that erodes our rights can actually be patriotic, especially when our country is all about our rights in the first place. If we accept into our faith anything that takes unfair advantage of the fact that we have faith, we are making a similar mistake. Because it is Faith, we have to be cautious about what we actually want to include in it. Who gets to say? The Church? A hypocritical television evangelist? While it is easy to believe who and what we want to believe, that does not make it correct. Long ago The Church decided what to include, and not include, in the New Testament. Now we treat it as if it was a book that came down from the mountain like the Ten Commandments supposedly did. Unfortunately it is only that part they wanted us to see that we have now and where it came from before that we only have their word for. This is somewhat sketchy for my taste. I only have to look at the Universe to suspect that God exists. There is little room for politics in that kind of faith and a lot of room for science. There is also room for growth.

Diamonds and Hope

Hope is like Diamonds....
Rare, Rough and Hard.
It can be carved into something beautiful,
sparkling and precious.
But it takes skill,
So it requires practice.
It takes Time,
So it needs patience.
The result is something profound.